London police charge twin brothers in fentanyl bust

London police have charged a pair of twin brothers with drug possession, including oft-deadly fentanyl – a drug officials have said could be at the root of a recent raft of overdoses across Southwestern Ontario.

Police say the men, aged 33, were arrested Thursday after police raided one home on Huron Street in the city’s northeast end and one on Village Green Avenue in London’s Westmount neighbourhood.

Police seized more than $24,000 worth of drugs. Among them were 35 grams of fentanyl, valued at $12,250.

Highly addictive and 100 times more potent than morphine, fentanyl has been implicated in much of the opioid drug crisis sweeping Ontario  – a crisis that has hit the city in dramatic fashion. Five people have died of suspected opioid drug overdoses in London this week alone.

Suspected opioid drug overdose deaths also occurred in other parts of the region – three in Brantford and one in Woodstock, where 17-year-old Connor Mackay died on Monday. Officials have said they’re trying to determine if a “toxic” batch of fentanyl could be a common denominator.

Opioids are a family of drugs that includes heroin, synthetic painkillers like fentanyl and pain medications that are legally available by prescription such as OxyContin.

One of the brothers is also facing gun possession charges, police say.

Police say the accused men were expected to appear in London court Friday.

Anyone with information is asked to call London police at 519-661-5670.